I love a wonderful beach with warm soft sand and many in the “Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur” are just fabulous! Marla and I have been visiting France for many years enjoying the culture, ambiance, the people, cuisine and wines…and of course fun in the sun and sea. Plage.tv is an excellent resource for obtaining everything you need to know about the beaches in France. Cannes was our first beach destination in France and a good friend recommended “Riviera Beach”. We took our daughters here when they were young and continued over the years. This is one of the “Midi beaches” off Boulevard Jean Hibert, a cluster of beaches on the other side of the “Old Port” of Cannes.

For this post I’ll share some of my very favorite beaches from Cannes to Menton near the Italian border.

The above map shows the “Midi beaches” on the lower left and the famous “Croissette areas.” Both have numerous Private beach clubs, many with restaurants, some quite nice, as well as a few public beaches. The private beach clubs offer daily rentals of “beds”, umbrellas, towels, as well as drink and food services. On the public beaches you bring your own towels and beach chairs.

We have stayed in a number of nice hotels in Cannes, but we prefer renting apartments. We have rented various apartments in this building right across the street from Riviera Beach. Look at my blogpost on beautiful Cannes.

Marla enjoys July weather on Riviera Beach.

The public beaches in the “Midi” area are nice as well. Many apartment rentals have beach chairs and towels.

I’m enjoying the afternoon sun on the Croisette.

A fun flashback of Marla and me at a private beach across from the Carlton Hotel on the Croisette.

Let us visit my favorite town on the Riviera which also has superb beaches. Menton is a colorful jewel box town only minutes from the Italian border. The wide arc of “Sablettes Beach” is shown above with its’ beautiful promenade. Check out my blogpost on Menton.

The town and its’ beaches are delightful!

Can you imagine they even have misters to cool down visitors in the summer?

This is a view from the terrace of our rental apartment overlooking the bay and beach clubs of “Rondelli Beach.”

Look how crowded “Rondelli Beach” was on this day on September 2nd!

Lunch at “Da Mitchou”, our favorite beach club at Rondelli beach. Being so close to Italy the clubs cater to many Italian guests and offer French and Italian cuisine.

I could be wrong, but I think we just finished a bottle of a nice Rose.

Multicolored umbrellas at “Da Mitchou.”

Time for a swim.

In the late afternoon a “Cleaning boat” comes by to collect any trash floating in the bay!

With a view like this you can see why the beaches in Menton are my very favorite!

Another wonderful beach is at “Renecros Bay” in Bandol. We rented a three-story villa overlooking the beach for our party of 6. Click here for the Bandol rental information with VRBO.

A view of the beautiful sandy beach and the bay from one of the bedrooms.

One day we tried the beach club with our daughter Lisa and family at Hotel & Spa Ile Rousse Thalazur.

Our friend Philippe came from Paris to join us in Bandol for a few days. He gave the beach and bay his high approval as he is notoriously picky about his beaches!

Our rental house is the 3-story building with the pool in the middle above the beach.

Cassis has a few nice beaches worth a try. The lovely old town next to the harbor is enchanting.

The public beach at Villefranch-sur-Mer is nice and the bay is gorgeous. The peninsula of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat continues on the upper right.

Marla comes out of the water from the bay of Villefranche.

The “Plage de la Garoupe Beach” in Antibes is worth going to for a historical perspective. The beach itself is nothing exciting but the area is quite posh! This beach has a wonderful history. During the late Belle Epoque and the early Jazz Age, the French Riviera was considered only as a wintertime resort. In the 1920’s, however, the Murphys, a famous American socialite couple, bought a villa on the Cap d’Antibes and spent countless hours cleaning Plage de la Garoupe of seaweed and old fishing nets in order to attract their wealthy and famous friends to summer here. It certainly worked: Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Picasso were just a few who came to attend the glittering parties and enjoy the pretty little beach their friends had prepared.

Look at the same area in 1923! This was called a “Mad beach party.” Photograph by Francois Biondo.

There are a number of nice sandy public beaches around Antibes. This is the “Plage de la Gravette” near the old town walls.

Remember the summer months can be very crowded in the gorgeous towns and beaches of the South of France. My very favorite time is the first week in September, but one must visit when it fits with their schedule.

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.

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